Headlight Glare

Seriously? How is that even legal?

It isn’t. Lights have to have facility to physically adjust the nominal position of the body (legally required up/down, not sure about left/right). There are parts of ECE R48 (i think) that still cover this.
There isn’t however any easy way to adjust the self levelling, steering or matrix bit of the lights without mucking around with software/calibration values/tweaking sensors.

Auto:

1. Right foot press brake (safety requirement), hand release handbrake (thumb on ratchet button)

2. Hand click shifter into drive (thumb on safety button which requires an awkward hand position)

3. Move right foot off brake to press throttle

Yep, that’s it. Identical to Mrs a11y’s auto F32 430d – I very rarely drive it and daresay I’d get better with practice, but step 2 is the one I cock up. Usually because I suspect I’m either not engaging the button fully (terrible ergonomics as you say) or trying to rush the process quicker than the car allows.

Bonus point for thumb on ratchet button in step 1. Those folk that go click-click-click-click-click-click-click… argh!

I know a lot more cars are auto now but that’s not my problem, just show some respect to the people behind. It’s just a symptom of the general decline in driving standards.

I wish anyone with this view had a flag that said ‘delicate’ on it. Or maybe a strip across the top of the windscreen that showed other road users that you were intolerant.

I’d stop at junctions and keep my indicator on, just so you could be twice as offended, about half the time.

You seem to like the sensation of offence, so it would be a kindness.

I wish anyone with this view had a flag that said ‘delicate’ on it.

Perhaps a ‘Rule #1’ flag would balance things out, for everyone.

I checked my 2020 Skoda last night. There is a vertical wheel next to the headlamp switch which alters the angle of the light beam.

It’s also an auto so now I use the foot brake all the time, the handbrake is only used with the engine off. Quite a difference for me as with a manual car I used the handbrake and neutral every time is stopped.

I wish anyone with this view had a flag that said ‘delicate’ on it. Or maybe a strip across the top of the windscreen that showed other road users that you were intolerant.

I’d stop at junctions and keep my indicator on, just so you could be twice as offended, about half the time.

You seem to like the sensation of offence, so it would be a kindness.

Throwing in my 2p here as both of those annoy me to varying degrees but I don’t think I’m ‘delicate’.

Brake lights: more annoying, often I’m sat behind someone with nuclear powered LEDs shining straight into my eyes and it’s far too bright to be comfortable.

Indicators when clearly unnecessary (eg sitting in a queue in the “turn only” lane): extremely mild annoyance as it doesn’t affect anyone in the slightest.

In both cases I think the aspect that gets to me most is that, bluntly, it’s just simple laziness/thoughtlessness or being unaware of their surroundings. A little consideration for others vs just sitting there in your own bubble. I appreciate the brakes thing is probably mostly autos, but seriously it’s not that much of a pain to shift into neutral and put the handbrake on, for the sake of being kind/thoughtful.

This is how Mercedes advertised their new headlights…. X-ray??

Indicators when clearly unnecessary (eg sitting in a queue in the “turn only” lane): extremely mild annoyance as it doesn’t affect anyone in the slightest

Most of the time, yes, but sometimes it’s about alerting pedestrians (and even, incredibly, cyclists) to the fact that you’re going to be going that way. It’s not always obvious from the other side of a large junction for some people outside of a vehicle to understand road markings or signs from a different direction.
Brake lights in a queue can do-one though.

Most of the time, yes, but sometimes it’s about alerting pedestrians (and even, incredibly, cyclists) to the fact that you’re going to be going that way. It’s not always obvious from the other side of a large junction for some people outside of a vehicle to understand road markings or signs from a different direction.

Oh sure if you’re at the front of the queue or in moving traffic it’s a bit different but when they’re sat 3 cars back from the red light in solid traffic, the indicator’s 100% pointless. Dunno how they don’t get driven mad by the ticking with it going for so long!

(See also: having the wipers going much faster than necessary, or not noticing that the rain stopped 5 minutes ago. A similar level of brainlessness that doesn’t actually affect anyone else)

with nuclear powered LEDs

…and you claim not to be delicate?

It’s a light. On a car.

You make it sound like you are heading towards the sun, clockwork orange style.

My eyes are quite sensitive to ligh

I think this is how they are meant to be.

I found that my SO’s Tesla Model 3 needed occasional recalibration for the level of the dipped headlights. Simple press of a button on the service menu and a few seconds later AOK. Otherwise they seemed to drift upwards over the course of a few months.

the LED matrix lights are great for night driving. Full beam with the pattern dynamically adjusting based on cars in front and on other carriageways. Not so good at adapting to pedestrians and cyclists – a manual move to dipped is necessary.

I expect that some dazzling is a function of the cold white light and brightness. I much prefer new headlights to old ones on the whole.

the LED matrix lights are great for night driving.

Not for the rest of us they’re not…

I’ve stopped driving at night because of the stupidly bright vehicle lights. At some points I can’t even see my side of the road on unlit streets/lanes, This is particularly bad when it’s raining.

I had exactly that problem a couple of years ago, I’d been diagnosed with cataracts, but the hospital wouldn’t operate because they weren’t bad enough, by the following winter it was so bad I was forced to brake because I couldn’t see the kerb, even on a main road with lighting. I as seriously worried that I might have to change to shorter hours, or give up my job, because I worked 12 hour days.
Another examination led to my having an operation on my worst eye, followed by the other several months later. The difference has been life-changing, I no longer need glasses or contacts, my eyesight is better than since I left school. I’m 70. I’ll be honest, I don’t have too much of an issue with most headlights now, with the exception of trucks and other commercial vehicles, who always seem to have really badly adjusted lights.

Just noticed that our Sportage has matrix lights which notch out traffic on full beam, very adpative, continually moving the notch around as the road turns or traffic changes. Quite impressive.

And people stopped at lights or in traffic with their foot on the brake so their brake lights dazzle drivers behind, that’s annoying too.

That’ll be the auto hold on automatics. Game changer that, for driving in heavy traffic. No more having to piss around with your foot on the brake when stopped. Combine it with a decent adaptive cruise control and you can sit back and let the car do the work.
And as for other comments about “nuclear” power rear lights, I’m pretty sure they must have to comply with maximum outputs etc.

I was sat in traffic earlier , in the dark ( and drizzle) purposely looking for offensive rear lights,  and came to the conclusion that none of them bothered me in the slightest , and that there are quite a lot of autos on the road.

…and you claim not to be delicate?

It’s a light. On a car.

You make it sound like you are heading towards the sun, clockwork orange style.

That’ll be the auto hold on automatics. Game changer that, for driving in heavy traffic. No more having to piss around with your foot on the brake when stopped. Combine it with a decent adaptive cruise control and you can sit back and let the car do the work.
And as for other comments about “nuclear” power rear lights

Wow. I didn’t expect to be taken so literally. I thought it was an obvious light-hearted exaggeration.

No, I’m not sitting there in agony because the lights are burning my delicate eyes. Sometimes, not actually all that often, I am close behind a car, unmoving for approx 1 minute, and the lights shining directly into my face from 2-3m away (3 of them, therefore filling my field of view) are uncomfortably bright.

I know it’s often autos, and I’m not complaining about slow moving traffic. Not suggesting people use their handbrake while stop-starting along in rush hour.

I’m not that bad at explaining what I mean. It’s like you’re trying to misunderstand me.

I know a lot more cars are auto now but that’s not my problem, just show some respect to the people behind. It’s just a symptom of the general decline in driving standards.

Over the course of two years in my job as a logistics driver, I guess I drove roughly 100,000 miles, so I sat in an awful lot of stationary or slow moving traffic, with the brake lights on in front of me. Care to guess how many shits I gave about it?

My car’s a semi-auto, on a slope or a hill, when I stop, if I lift my foot off the brake the car is stationary; I have no idea if the brake lights are on or not. On the flat, if the delay is for traffic lights, I just sit with my foot on the brake; if it’s likely to be for longer, then I pull the handbrake on and shift into Park. It’s not worth the hassle for more than as long as lights take to change.

Just noticed that our Sportage has matrix lights which notch out traffic on full beam, very adpative, continually moving the notch around as the road turns or traffic changes. Quite impressive.

That’s a bit worrying that you have been driving a car around  not noticing what it’s doing in front of your eyes .

I much prefer new headlights to old ones on the whole.

that’s the nub of this, the fancy new lights suit the driver who has them, but not the rest of us who are blinded by them…

I have a mate who complained incessantly about the shitness of the  auto main beam in his mums Audi Q%some SUV crap%. When I went out with him for a drive to show me, I had to point out to him that they were matrix lights and where the dark bits were was where the car had identified something to not blind and where the light bits were was where the car had identified something to highlight. They were bloody brilliant.

Once he’d had this highlighted he was completely awestruck with them. I think it was doing things so quickly while using its fade function that it was difficult for him to tell that anything was  actually changing. 

I checked my car last night and can happily report that auto-hold / traffic assist does not keep brake lights on this car.
And somehow I wasn’t distracted by anyone elses brake lights either.

that’s the nub of this, the fancy new lights suit the driver who has them, but not the rest of us who are blinded by them…

They don’t for me, see what I said earlier about glare off road signs on full beam making everything else fade into the background.

Not sure if this has been mentioned, but I read an article about this recently which suggested another factor wasn’t the outright brightness of modern headlights, but the colour temperature of the beam. Basically the very white light emitted by LED headlights is less friendly to the human eye than ye olde yellow-tinted halogen ones, so the impact is disproportionate. Similar to bike lights in fact.

Speaking of which, StVZO should be mandatory for bike use on the road. It would be very STW for half the people complaining about being dazzled by car headlights to be riding about  on the road with über bright bike lights with no cut-off 🙂

matt_outandaboutFull Member

Seat garage confirmed no adjustments.

What model and model year is it, and which headlights (halogen, simple LED, full matrix etc) ?

eta: I have self leveling LEDs on an 18 plate Octy and there are two adjustment hex screws.

Most of the problem for me is traffic on dual carriageways in the lane to my right with headlights at wing mirror height. A maximum height for headlights at about knee level would get my vote.

multi21

What model and model year is it, and which headlights (halogen, simple LED, full matrix etc) ?

eta: I have self leveling LEDs on an 18 plate Octy and there are two adjustment hex screws

And I forgot to say, even if it has matrix LEDs, I bet the base offset can still be adjust in VAGCOM or VCDS.  I’m about 90% sure I remember seeing an LED calibration mode in VCDS to do that.

Not saying the garage are wrong but maybe they misunderstood and thought you mean the manual adjustment roller wheel inside the car?

By coincidence, my Mum was moaning about the auto dip feature on their new Toyota today, she says it clearly dips too late so doesn’t use it .

She actually took her last car, a Suzuki Vitara, I think back to the dealership because she felt the beam was too high as she was getting flashed a lot (stop sniggering at the back) and apparently, yes it needed adjustment. I  have to wonder how many nearly new cars fail their first MOT on headlamp alignment.